Painted wood products are in high demand in the market. Traditional cabinet and furniture manufacturers include “painted” products in their offering. The cabinet industry, for example, offers about 40% of the entire offering in painted finishes. These painted finishes take multiple steps to accomplish the final product and are typically produced on hardwood veneer panels for every end panel and some interior panels as well. Hardwood veneers, however, are costly and also not sustainable.
On the other hand, the cost of porous panel products is drastically lower than hardwood veneers. These products are also much more sustainable as they are by-products of the woodworking industry globally. Porous panel products include medium-density fiberboard (MDF), high-density fiberboard (HDF), medium-density overlay (MDO), and high-density overlay (HDO). These boards are being used to replace much more expensive hardwood veneer panels and can provide a much higher finishing capability than the hardwood veneer panels. The porous nature of these products, however, require proper sealing to increase resistance to warping, expansion, shrinkage, or water damage.
Accordingly, there is a need for methods of sealing porous wood products to achieve the same or better results in the final painting process than sealing hardwood while not increasing the finishing steps involved. These methods would also significantly reduce the end user's structural cost. There is also need to provide a method of producing a high-quality, professional look similar to hardwood veneer panels or better. Finally, there is a need for methods that coat porous wood materials with various shapes that mimic the quality and look of finished hardwood.